"When it comes to quality wins, no one has a more impressive win right now nationally than #Alabama." – @MattScalici http://ow.ly/Utxr7

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One thing we learned from last week's debut edition of the rankings is that the playoff selection committee clearly places a heavier emphasis on accomplishments rather than failures. A better way of putting it: it's not who you've lost to but who you've beaten that matters the most to the playoff committee.

In order to create an equal playing field there needs to be that math guy balancing out the process among college football blue bloods and athletic directors. Who better than an oddsmaker to share his or her take on proper valuations of the best teams in the land...

Florida: Don't forget about the Gators. They fell into the shadows after a pedestrian performance against Vanderbilt in Week 10, but they've already clinched the SEC East and should be favored in their two remaining games, against FAU and rival Florida State. If a one-loss Florida team can knock off Alabama in the SEC title game, it should be in the top four.

Losers

Pac-12...

LSU: Forget about the top four; LSU is trying to hang on to second place in the SEC West. The loss to Arkansas coupled with Alabama's win against Mississippi State was a dagger to LSU's playoff hopes. The Tigers have lost back-to-back games, Leonard Fournette is no longer the Heisman front-runner, and a road trip to Ole Miss looms.

#Oklahoma's Bob Stoops says Sooners should be in College Football Playoff, takes subtle jab at SEC http://ow.ly/ULZZ1

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"I don't know how you couldn't," Stoops said Monday night in an interview on ESPN's SportsCenter. "If you go on the road and beat the No. 6 team in the country, you beat the No. 11 team in the country (TCU) and Oklahoma State also on the road -- the No. 4 team in the country -- who else is doing that at the end of the year, or even through the whole year?

"Look at whoever else has won, and what top teams have they beaten?" Stoops said on the broadcast. "If you're able to do that, then certainly you should be one of those teams. And also, by the way, won on the road to Tennessee, one of those SEC teams."

No. 12 Florida suddenly has minimal odds of vaulting eight spots in the coming days, short of routing Florida State and Alabama (SEC championship) by 30 points apiece over the next two weekends.

If Florida had trouble taking down Vanderbilt (by two points) and Florida Atlantic (overtime) at home, then Alabama should be a heavy favorite for next week’s SEC championship. Of course, the No. 2 Crimson Tide (10-1 overall) still need to take care of business this week (at Auburn), before booking a trip to Atlanta.

An Iron Bowl defeat would also open the door for No. 18 Ole Miss (8-3 overall, 5-2 SEC; tiebreaker advantage over Alabama) potentially claiming the SEC West title. In that scenario, a Gators-Rebels championship bout probably wouldn’t thrill the Playoff committee too much.

Florida has a daunting two weeks ahead, but beating rival Florida State and upsetting Alabama in the SEC Championship game should vault the Gators into the College Football Playoff. [This is arguably a tougher task than winning the two playoff games.]

First, let’s examine the Gators’ schedule. At this point, Florida’s best win is clearly against Ole Miss, which is currently No. 18 in the Playoff rankings. The second-best win is … well, here is the beginning of Florida’s problem.

According to the computers, Florida’s next-best wins are Tennessee at No. 28 and UGA at No. 29.

The entire SEC West is ranked in the top 35, but the bottom four schools in the SEC East are not helping the Gators. Missouri, Kentucky, Vanderbilt and South Carolina are all ranked between 66 and 85. So too is another Florida opponent, East Carolina, which checks in at No. 80. Florida Atlantic (No. 115) and New Mexico State (No .111) … well, the Gators got what they paid for.

ESPN Stats & InfoVerified account ‏@ESPNStatsInfo 24m24 minutes agoOklahoma: 5-0 against AP-ranked teams this season after going 0-4 in such games in 2014; most such wins by any team this season w/o a loss

College football's last week of the regular season resulted in another first: Alabama is No. 1 in the College Football Computer Composite, the weekly ranking formulated by the former Bowl Championship Series computers.

"The committee debated long and hard about the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams," Long said. "Clemson is again ranked No. 1, but it was close and indeed very close. They both have impressive bodies of work. Clemson is 6-0 against teams with winning records including two wins against teams in this week's top 10. Alabama is 8-1 against teams with winning records. While that is an impressive résumé, Alabama has not played a team in the current top 10. Clemson's undefeated record was also clearly a factor."

But it was close.

"We had a number of revotes, and there were times in the meeting I actually thought Alabama was going to be voted ahead of Clemson," Long said. "But they were not."

Let me start by saying Alabama is clearly or, to use College Football Playoff lingo, unequivocally one of the best four teams this season.

Now that we have that established, let's have a little fun with this whole selection process, which is jeered, cheered and smeared every Tuesday night when the committee's rankings are unveiled.

The most fascinating "What if ..." of all in a season full of them is how everything would have played out if the ball hadn't bounced just right for Arkansas back on Nov. 7 in the Hogs' thrilling 53-52 overtime win against Ole Miss. Even Arkansas coach Bret Bielema referred to the fourth-and-25 lateral play in overtime as "divine intervention." Tight end Hunter Henry gathered in a short pass and flung it backward about 30 feet as he was being tackled. The ball was tipped by an offensive lineman and scooped up on the bounce by Alex Collins, who rambled for the first down, but not before he fumbled. Teammate Dominique Reed was there to recover for the Hogs.

The whole thing is still dizzying when you watch the replay, but the Hogs went on to score a touchdown and convert the game-winning two-point try in one of the more exciting games of the season.

It was a great win for Arkansas and a crushing loss for Ole Miss.

But think about the conundrum the committee would have right now had Henry's wild lateral not bounced just right.

The committee's sixth and final top four will be released Sunday at noon ET on ESPN.

While it's possible that Big 12 champ OU could cling onto that No. 3 spot, it would be very easy for the 12-member committee to justify Michigan State's leap to the No. 3 spot after beating previously undefeated Iowa. When comparing the two one-loss teams, Michigan State's résumé is more compelling, with road wins at Ohio State and Michigan, a win over Oregon and finally beating the committee's No. 4 team in Iowa.